Dentist returns home from treating soldiers, canines in Afghanistan

Major John Giordano DMD shares a moment with a satisfied patient. During his recent deployment in Afghanistan, Giordano branched into canine dental practice, treating the explosive sniffing dogs stationed in and around Kabul.
Submitted photo Major John Giordano, D.M.D., is back on duty at his Worcester dental practice, after a four-month deployment to Afghanistan with the Army National Guard.

Although he is part of the Medical Command at Hanscom Air Base, Giordano, who lives in Holden, deployed in March with the Louisiana National Guard 756th Area Support Medical Company unit who needed a dentist.

This was another goal achieved for Giordano, a Hodgkin’s lymphoma survivor, forensic odontologist, who is trained for national disaster and early on adopted the technology of harvesting dental pulp and stem cells as a safeguard for his patients’ future health needs. He grew up hearing tales of his father’s and grandfather’s military service and was eager to serve.

In Afghanistan, Giordano’s task was to attend to the dental needs of soldiers who were preparing for deployment in the country. Uniquely, sometimes those pearly white molars and canine teeth he treated belonged to actual canines. These were the bomb-sniffing dogs used to detect the deadly roadside bombs, often homemade, that are not always picked up by metal detectors. Like all the other soldiers, the Army made sure the dogs got dental care.

During his deployment, Giordano was assigned to two bases, the first at Forward Operating Base Salerno- Khoost, about 15 miles from the Pakistan border. The second half of his deployment was spent at Camp Phoenix in Kabul.

At each base, Gordano was in charge of emergency dental treatment, as well as routine dental care for U.S. personnel and coalition forces on each base and in the surrounding area.

Giordano estimated that he treated patients from some two dozen countries including Turkey and Albania. Unsurprisingly, to communicate in so many languages required some assistance.

“It was challenging. However, there were language interpreters who could kind of speak good English,” he said.

There were some line-of-duty injuries to treat, he said, but most of the work was routine.

The U.S. military has dental care as a priority, he said. Soldiers have to be dentally ready and deployable at any moment.

From time to time, he was called on to evaluate soldiers in the Afghan army. Sometimes Giordano said he experienced culture shock from what he observed in the course of treating patients.

“We take things for granted here. Their average lifespan is 41 years, they have the highest infant mortality rate in the world. When you see a country like that, you realize how lucky you are,” he said.

Giardano was responsible for implementing a preventative program for dental health at both the bases where he served. The cleanings, X-rays and fluoride treatments (“they drink a lot of Gatorade”) were instituted for soldiers who were getting ready to return to the states, giving them a head start on their care at home. He treated 119 soldiers in just two weeks before they returned to Texas.

In Kabul, Giordano asked the veterinary clinic if he could observe the dental work they did on dogs. The clinic gladly gave permission, and eventually asked him to do some work. As a dog lover, Giordano was happy to do it.

“Dentistry is dentistry,” he said.

He performed cleanings and did root canals for all kinds of breeds, including an English pointer, Rottweiler, German shepherd and an assortment of mixed breeds.

“The dogs lived with their trainers. Sometimes they would notice their dog wouldn’t eat or play with their usual toy and it turned out they had an abscess or some other presentation,” Giordano said.

The army had 300 dogs in the immediate area around Kabul, he said. Beside their work on roadways, the dogs served at military coalition buildings and embassies.

A Hungarian Vizsla who served in-country as a behavioral health dog had the full rank of major, he reported.

With his fellow medical officers, Giordano worked on an outreach program that provided school supplies to children in the Kabul area.

They would also get together once or twice a week to fashion fuel “doughnuts” that Giordano said were like little hockey pucks made from recycled paper. They were distributed to the local population to be used as fuel for heat or cooking.

Giordano enjoyed being part of the military’s outreach program.

“It makes you feel connected,” he said.

While he was on his deployment, two of his friends who are also dentists stepped in to treat his patients. He credits his wife, Kim Costello, who manages his Park Avenue practice, for keeping his office running while he was in Afghanistan. The couple was able to stay in touch through email, Facetime and cell phone.

Since his return, Giordano finds himself feeling a new appreciation for his life and his practice.

“I worked with a lot less over there’’ and still got the job done, he said. “I appreciate everything I have.’’